Organize Your Luggage
Stop using raggedly old luggage or pieces you don’t like. How many pieces of luggage, backpacks, purses, etc. do you have? How many do you actually use? – Marla Dee In 2019, the global luggage market was valued at approximately 22.11 billion U.S....Organize Your Office
Does your office support you or stress you? Most of us spend more time in our office than at home. Make your office a place where you thrive and do your best work! – Marla Dee Why work in a disorganized office or a space you really do not like? By continually...Clutter Clear Your Travel
Time to clear your travel bags! He who would travel happily must travel light. Antoine de Saint-Exupery Many of us long to travel. We want the adventure, the freedom and the escape from our everyday lives. Travel can spark new ideas and connect us with different...Clutter Clearing your brain!
A clear day begins with a clear brain.
Information is coming at us nonstop from every direction. How can we make clear choices and decisions when our brain is already on overload. One tip for sanity is to claim 15-30 minutes each day just for clean out of all the build up and to give yourself a break from the new coming in. Some of my favorite ways to do this are:
- Sit quietly with a morning cup of coffee or tea. Just let your mind wander where it will.
- Do a BRAIN DUMP – write down anything and everything that is chattering away in your brain. Let it out.
- Go for a walk around your block and take in the sites, sounds and smells. Let the earth clear you.
- Journal in a free style format. Let whatever thoughts, ideas or wonderings that pop up go down on paper.
- Have a conversation with yourself. Yes, just talk out loud and be amused at what is going on inside you.
- Do a simple breath meditation just focusing on your inhale and exhale. Set the intention that with every exhale, old information will leave your body and your brain.
Some Favorite Resources –
R = READ
Do you wish you could do more reading?
How many magazines or articles come into your life that you really want to read, but never seem to get too? How many places do magazines pile up just waiting for you to peruse? Life has gotten so busy for so many of us that we don’t always get the reading time we desire.
Here is how to change that…
- Get a holding container for your desired reading items (we like magazine files)
- Keep one where you will do the reading (i.e. next to your bed, near the couch, in your reading nook, in your office). Sometimes this means you will have more than one in your home.
A = Act
Here’s another simple step to managing your paper!
It’s time to set up a Simple Action System. This is where you will gather all of the papers that require you “do” something…make a call, pay a bill, send a card, schedule an event. Having just one place that you can go to for these things will change your relationship with paper AND with getting things done.
To put together your system you will need the following items…
- Container
- Files with labels
- Clear project folders
- Post-its, sharpie
Putting all of the pieces together!
T = Toss
Get it outta your life!
The final step of R.A.F.T.© is TOSS. It is a simple step, but offers a noticeable difference in your paper load. Once a week, as you process papers from your incoming container, simply toss papers into a recycle container or send through a shredder. Pay attention to what happens as you go through this process.
Common results are…
- Feeling accomplished clearing out all of that weight.
- You and your space feeling lighter.
- It sets a standard in your space that for all the incoming there has to be outgoing as well.
Send it off before it takes up residence!
F = File
Are you ready to love your filing cabinet and the papers inside?!
Okay, maybe that is a little extreme, but the reality is that you CAN have a filing system in place that will change your relationship with paper. You CAN enjoy handling, filing and retrieving papers. Thanks to the magnificent Seth Odam and his brilliant creation FreedomFiler. FreedomFiler is the only all-encompassing, self-purging filing system. Do you need even more reason than that?!
Okay…
- It contains everything from your daily action file labels, to your monthly files, your taxes, your vital records, your contracts and your reference information.
Clutter Clearing Made SIMPLE!
Spring is here. The sun is out. Time to clear out the clutter. But where to start and how to get it done. Clearing the clutter is freeing but can also be overwhelming.
Here are some simple tips to get started: